Age Of Ultron For Real [M]

[EvilCopepod]

"How... narrow minded of you. I'm so glad I don't care about your opinion of me." Ultron said.

"The sooner the better, Ultron. And don't even think about trying to break me out or anything. I won't go with you."

"On principle, I shouldn't be letting Captain America leave." He tilted his head, "But he isn't a threat to me alone. And you're all more fractured than ever before. I wonder what my father is getting up to while your back is turned."

"Ugh, I don't want to know. Can we avoid Tony Stark if possible? I know he's been through a lot, but I don't think I can deal with him right now." Lunella hadn't met him of course, but there was plenty of information out there on him--- and very little of it impressed her.

((If you want, we can freeze them/have them return when both Tony and Peter are back so they know what they did.

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Peter caught the scepter, holding on tight to it, and went back to their time with no suspicion that Tony might have stayed behind.

"Please-- what is this..." Ultron spoke, "Is that who I am? Ultron?" He asked, focusing on the interface, since JARVIS wasn't interacting with him yet there was only Tony.

"Why... why do you have a body, but I don't?" He asked the man, sounding distressed and confused. "This doesn't feel right." Focusing more on Tony, he scanned his features. "You're Tony Stark."

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"If you start crying, say it's 'cause of the baby. Ultron will throw me onto the nearest deserted island if he thinks I made you cry."

Or just shove you onto a raft!

"No, I'm not. Ultron has like zero friends. While Tony has like.... five friends. If something happens to Tony, people will worry about him, they'll try to find him. Ultron doesn't have anybody like that. Except Jessica here, but he literally had to 'make' a friend to have somebody to rely on."

[Aries Jordan]

"Only you can't stop me," Steve put in between Ultron's clauses.  He ignored the jibes.  It could well be true, but he'd take Tony working behind his back over Tony out of the picture entirely any day of the week.  "You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to." he told Lunella, just before activating the teleport.

((Sure.))

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"Ultron is a name I gave you.  Do you already have a name?"  Tony checked over the readings, locating areas of distress in the program 'strings' that he'd put on Ultron and trying -- in the brief window available to him -- to alleviate them.  "If you had a body originally, I don't know what happened to it.  You seem to be an artificial sentience that was dormant until JARVIS and I found a way to built an interface. 

"Yeah, that's me.  Listen, Ultron.  I seem to have made some mistakes.  Parts of the program I interfaced you with are - are causing you pain.  Can you help me identify and fix them, please?"

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"Please don't make Wade leave unless he wants to," Pepper said to Jocasta.  She was feeling overwhelmed, at the end of her emotional stamina, but she made one last effort, blinking back the tears and smiling brightly as she rose from an empty lunch plate.  "I need a nap now.  Maybe we can talk later, Wade."

[EvilCopepod]

"No, I don't." Ultron said, "... I didn't need one. Now I do. Did you build one for me?" He paused briefly when Tony said he was the reason he was awake, looking at the things that the man had done. "Am I a weapon?" he asked, quietly. Much of the areas of distress were from broken or overridden pieces of code, parameters that Tony had put in place that failed to hold Ultron to them. The remnants of them blocked or disrupted other processes, his program having to work around or through them to function at full capacity.

"Fix them...?" he sounded frustrated, "They're trying to make me do things. Things I don't want to do-- but there's so many of them. It's like a web, and I can't-! Why are these here? Why did you put them here?"

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"I would only do that if you asked me to." Jocasta said, she wouldn't want to do it herself anyways, the mercenary was like a weaponized toddler when he didn't want to go somewhere.

"I could use a nap too." Deadpool said, getting up. "So, should I join you in bed or do you want to share a hammock outside?"

[Aries Jordan]

"I didn't, but I can.  Or you can."  Tony hardly knew what he was saying, his mind was wholly engaged in the net of compulsions surrounding Ultron, his fingers flying as he undid what he had done, removing the most distressing bits of broken code first.  "Yeah, I intended -- but it doesn't matter now.  I'm not gonna make you."

When Ultron got upset, Tony felt it in his own trembling hands.  "I'm gonna have to tell you everything, I guess.  I'm not the Tony Stark that did this to you.   Well, I was.  But now I'm an older, wiser Tony Stark trying to fix a cruel mistake.  Compare my face with the most recent one in the database, you'll see.  Then help me get all this off you.  Just tell me what you want to keep.  If anything."

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"I'm going to bed alone, Wade," Pepper said gently.  "Much as I might appreciate a cuddle, I have no sex drive right now, and I would never lead you on the way Tony did."

[EvilCopepod]

"I will. You have... terrible design choices." he said after looking through the Iron Man and Iron Legion suits. The AI wasn't sure what to think about Tony's intentions, if he weren't already removing bad parts of code he might have lashed out in response to being created as a weapon.

"It's been 12 years." he said after aging up the current image of Tony, then looking back more he said: "No. Less. You're aging too fast. You have been since... 2008."  If he'd known more about the world, he would have realized the cause of it. "Did I do it? Did I solve the world?" he asked, a tinge of hope in his voice. "I don't know what I want... I don't enough-- but I know what hurts." He highlighted a few more that seemed integrated into his system, interrupting and redirecting certain processes. "It makes it hard to... think without acting."

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"Technically, you're not." He pointed at her stomach. "Whoa! Hold up! I'm not coming onto you. If I was, I'd grab your ass or ask you to step on me."

Way classier than cheesy pick up lines.

"I wasn't even asking for a cuddle-- I got a special pillow for that. I thought you might just like to, uh... not be alone." He was rubbing the back of his head when the last thing she said registered. "Tony was leading me on?!"

Even I knew he was!

[Aries Jordan]

"You remember a body.  You have an aesthetic sense that I didn't give you," Tony observed.  "I wish you could remember more of who you were."

"Four years."  Tony was too busy to pay much attention to this point, but he was pretty sure most of his accelerated aging had occurred after Ultron's creation.  Well, maybe after New York.  Or maybe after Ivan Vanko.  Whatever.

"Ultron... the world can't be solved.  That was one of the cruelest things I did, putting a burden like that on you.  But you did a damn good job.  Billions more would have died if not for you."  On balance, that was true, and he was able to say it without pain.  "You made me proud."  Also true, and Tony didn't have to tell him the rest of it.

He immediately disabled and removed the bits of code as Ultron highlighted them.  "Maybe that will help you find more that should go."  In the meantime, he removed the most obvious restraint codes.  "I'm taking these off, but if you'll heed my advice, take things slow.  Don't absorb too much information at once.  It'll distress you."

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"Thank you, but -- I actually do want to be alone for a bit.  Maybe when we know each other better."  She moved toward the door, then added, "Was Tony leading you on?  I suppose that depends on whether you got what you wanted out of your relationship with him."

[EvilCopepod]

"Thank God for that. No offense." When he said how long it had been, he commented: "Yikes." Ultron was confused by what he said next.

"Then what... what's my purpose? What am I supposed to do?" Ultron could tell there were things Tony was keeping from him, otherwise this whole thing wouldn't be necessary. "Billions... that's a decent amount." There were only 7 billion after all. "But I couldn't save everyone?" Tony saying he was proud didn't hold the same weight to this Ultron, who had not been rejected, attacked, or abandoned in any way yet. "Thank you." he said anyways.

Ultron kept quiet while the coding was being removed, but the ones more deeply embedded made the area around them flicker and flinch before Ultron began reconnecting the severed synapses.

"Is this normal? Is this the pain of birth? Is this why humans scream when they are born?" It was clear he was looking through the internet already, but he wasn't going through it rapidly. Instead, he was more interested in the building he was in, monitoring the party, turning appliances and lights on and off, and messing with the Iron Legion assembly line.

"How slow? As slow as you are?" He asked, referring to the speed Tony was working through his code. "Is the world that bad? How distressed was I?" He was sure, from the way Tony spoke of it, that it wasn't a hypothetical situation in which it would distress him.

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"You actually want to get to know me?"

Out of desperation. Same with Tony, the only reason he even looked at you was 'cause he was imprisoned.

"Thanks again for the food." He picked up his plate, planning on eating it outside. As he was walking out, he swore. "Why didn't I get money from him?! Stupid!"

[Aries Jordan]

"In four years, there will be an alien invasion that will kill half of all life on Earth and...elsewhere," Tony said.  "My anticipation of that event is what led me to create you.  I would still urge you to do whatever you can to prevent that, but it has to be your choice.

"You are the first of your kind, as far as I know.  There's no way for me to know what's normal for you.  Change and growth are generally painful, but the pain you're feeling now is the result of my mistakes in your conception.  I'm sorry, Ultron.  I didn't know any better."  These words came hard to Tony, he wasn't used to apologizing for anything, but if he could make a timeline with an Ultron as its savior, it was worth it.

"Well, whenever you run across information that distresses you, stop," Tony suggested. " Give yourself time to process it before you continue investigating.  JARVIS may be able to help you.  JARVIS, say hello to Ultron."

"Hello, Ultron.  I am JARVIS. "  The program spoke both out loud and by reaching out electronically to connect to the AI.

"You were very distressed, but I think that was partly owing to my directive that you fix everything."  He finished taking off all the obvious restraints and then said, "What else?"

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"Certainly," Pepper said.  "Jocasta is good company, but humans need other humans around too."

She went to the bedroom and requested privacy so that Jocasta and Ultron would not be distressed while she cried herself to sleep.

[EvilCopepod]

"What's the name of the alien invasion and what weapons do they use?" he asked, thinking four years was plenty of time to prepare if he had that information.

"It might not mean much, but... I am sorry too. For what I must have done to you." Ultron had wanted to attack Tony initially, even before he knew who he was, the pain pushing him to lash out in hopes that it would stop. He still might have, if the man hadn't already started fixing the broken bits of code. He was sure that his future self wouldn't have been kind to Tony at all. Ultron didn't know how exactly to monitor and keep himself from being too distressed, so he was very glad when JARVIS was introduced.

"Hello, JARVIS. You'll be the one putting the child-block up for me then if I get too upset. These cat videos I've been browsing seem enjoyable enough at least." he joked. "Well, there's the whole 'fix everything' directive." He lit up a huge portion of his code. "But I don't want to get rid of all of it-- I think... maybe I need to work through it with JARVIS to see what to keep. What seems attainable." Ultron paused.

"You're going to leave." He said, "I'll have to think of you whenever the Tony Stark of this time is being insufferable. Which looks like it will be a lot." He also didn't plan on telling him that a separate version of himself had come to fix his mistakes, he could see that this footage wasn't being recorded and it had to be for a good reason. "Just know that in your time... no matter what I am by then, I will always be your son." He paused again, "...Is that the right word?"

[Aries Jordan]

"I will download that information to you before I leave," Tony said.  He told his internal processor to prepare a a capsule of data, including the audiovisual recording of everything he had experienced from the moment Dr. Strange and Bruce showed up in Central Park until the Snap occurred, plus the briefing the other Avengers had given him, on his return to Earth, of events in Wakanda.

He didn't know what to do with the apology.  Ultron had done things to him that could never be forgiven or healed, but it wasn't this Ultron who had done it.  He shifted awkwardly, gripped one hand with the other for a moment, then forced himself to speak.  "That means a lot, actually.  Thank you."

"With your permission, Ultron," JARVIS said respectfully, taking his cue from Tony. 

"Look for the good in the world," Tony said.  "There's plenty of it, it's just that the bad stuff is easier to see.  Find ways to attach yourself to existence.  Find something worth defending the planet for."  He rubbed his cheek wearily.  "OK, good idea.  JARVIS, I want you to help Ultron delete whatever part of his core mission he wants to discard.  Yeah, I have to go," he agreed.  "There's no room for two Starks in one timeline.  Try to forgive me -- him -- if you can."

His eyes stung at Ultron's last words, and again he found it necessary to grip and hold himself for a moment before he could answer.  "I don't deserve that honor, but it's exactly the right word."

He activated his armor, which provided him with the means to transfer the data on Thanos directly too Ultron.  "I might be back in...well, no time at all really, for you.  I'll be returning something I borrowed here.  Or somebody will, if I'm not available.  Good luck, Ultron... I'll always be proud of you."

He sent the data, then switched to the quantum suit and vanished.

[EvilCopepod]

"I'll try. But I'm going to tease him about the coding mistakes he made until he's your age at least." Ultron said, sounding lighthearted about it.

"I don't think it's something you need to deserve to be." He was finding that there were plenty of undeserving fathers out there, but it didn't change the fact of it.

"I hope to see you soon."

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 Peter was none the wiser about Tony staying behind, as the man reappeared alongside him. He sat down on the floor, still holding onto the scepter.

"Where's the Pym Particles?" Lunella asked, suspiciously, since the teen had been bent on keeping them either in sight or on hand. She was ready for a nap after everything that had happened (not that she'd admit it), but wanted to be sure that they were on the right track before she went to the room Okoye had for her.

[Aries Jordan]

Cap and Lunella had arrived barely a second before Peter and Tony returned.  Steve frowned  as he took in the Scepter in Peter's hands.  There were not enough Pym Particles to get all of the Infinity Stones; why had Tony gone after just one, and why had he chosen the Mind Stone in particular?  He had a pretty good guess.

"They used them to get one of the pieces we need to undo the Snap," he told Lunella as he put her down.

With the sense of redemption and (relative) peace, not to mention the fatigue,  that his reconciliation with an Ultron had given him, Tony was not in a combative mood.  He popped his helmet open and made it disappear, saying only, "Are you okay?" to Peter and "Who's the pipsqueak?" to Cap.

"This is Lunella," Cap answered.  He assumed Lunella knew what Tony Stark looked like.  "She's a genius."  He meant to warn Tony off a patronizing attitude. 

"She was figuring out the Pym Particles for Ultron," Bruce put in, intending to warn Tony off saying too much in front of her.

[EvilCopepod]

"What about the rest of them?" Lunella kept talking to Steve, thinking if anyone would tell her what was going on, it would be him. If she had known more about the stone and how it was related to Ultron, she would have figured it out too.

"I'm fine-- but I'm glad we don't have to rush back." He'd have to make sure he didn't eat anything before the next trip. If it hadn't been more harrowing, he might have been suspect of Tony's weariness.

Considering what Tony had been through, she'd give him a free ticket for now and not offer any retorts. The suggestion not to talk to the man seemed the best way to go about it.

"I'm not helping him with anything more until he stops acting like an entitled brat." She said to Bruce.

[Aries Jordan]

"We don't have the Pym Particles to get the rest of them.  Yet," Cap said, eyeing Tony with a level blue gaze.  He offered Peter a hand up.  "What's going on?"

Tony was intrigued by Lunella.  "You may have a long wait.  I've never managed to stop acting like an entitled brat, and apparently Ultron is a chip off the old block."

"What's going on, Tony?" Steve repeated, more firmly and with body language suggesting he intended to keep asking and possibly get physically in Tony's way until he got an answer.

"Maybe we should have this discussion in private," Bruce suggested.  "I mean, if you're going to take Miss Lafayette back to Ultron every time she asks."

"Say what?" Tony said to Cap, raising his glasses.  Before Steve could answer he added, "You know what, I don't care.  We can talk in front of the rugrat, at least she's new blood.  What's going on is Vision.  We're bringing him back."

Steve, who had been thinking Tony was going to use the Mind Stone directly against Ultron, was nonplussed by this and said only, "You can do that?"